UConn battles to 3-1 win over No. 17 Penn State

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It wasn’t pretty but UConn men’s hockey gutted out a 3-1 victory over the No. 17 Penn State Nittany Lions in its season opener on Friday night at Toscano Family Ice Forum. The Huskies were outshot 43-24 and lost the faceoff battle 37-19, but came out on top on the scoreboard.

Will McIsaac, Joey Muldowney and Kaden Shahan scored for UConn. Kam Hendrickson earned the starting nod between the pipes and finished with 42 saves on 43 shots, good for a .978 save percentage.

The Huskies were a perfect 3-3 on the penalty kill but 0-3 on the power play.

UConn needed some time to shake off the early-season nerves and settle in. The Huskies struggled to hold onto the puck in the offensive zone and didn’t generate many chances in the opening minutes.

Their forecheck helped change that. UConn forced a turnover in the offensive zone that Mike Murtagh picked up at the top of the circles. He found a wide-open McIsaac on the back side, who ripped a shot into the twine for the first goal of the season. That put the Huskies up 1-0, a scoreline that held into the intermission.

Early in the second period, Penn State pulled even. UConn, which had struggled to exit the defensive zone to that point, couldn’t clear the front of the net and Kale Dach buried the loose puck to make it a 1-1 game.

Soon after, the teams traded power plays but both sides came up empty.

Despite spending much of the middle stanza in their own zone, the Huskies went back ahead. Moments after being denied by a glove save, Muldowney ended up free in the slot and notched his first goal of the year off a feed from Alexandre Blais. Once again, UConn went into the break ahead.

After 40 cagey minutes, the game opened up in the third period. The teams flew back and forth up the ice trading chances, but neither found the back of the net. The Nittany Lions appeared to tie it with 7:03 left when Justin Poirier finished a rebound, but the Huskies successfully challenged for goaltender interference, which took the goal off the board.

Penn State pulled the goalie to get the extra attacker with 2:55 left but couldn’t take advantage. The dagger came when Shahan stole the puck at the blue line and shot free up the ice. He skated all the way to the top of the crease before letting it slide into the empty net with 1:34 to play.

While plenty of time still remained, the Nittany Lions never seriously threatened a comeback. UConn didn’t let them pull the goalie again until 45 seconds to go and even after Murtagh went to the box for slashing with 34.0 seconds left, the visitors couldn’t generate any dangerous chances. Penn State sealed its fate with a roughing penalty in the final seconds.

With the win, UConn moves to 1-0-0 on the season. Bowling Green beat Sacred Heart in the other game of the Ice Breaker Tournament, which means the Huskies and Falcons will battle for the trophy on Saturday in Storrs. Puck drop is set for 6 p.m. ET.

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